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NYU Press and NYU Abu Dhabi Announce the Launch of the Library of Arabic Literature

October 20, 2010
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NYU Press and NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have announced the establishment of the Library of Arabic Literature (LAL). This new long-term project, funded by a grant from NYUAD’s research center, the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, will initially publish 35 English translations of the great works of classical Arabic literature. The translations, rendered in parallel-text format with Arabic and English on facing pages, will be undertaken by renowned scholars of Arabic literature and Islamic studies. The translations will include a full range of works, including poetry, poetics, fiction, religion, philosophy, law, science, history and historiography.

LAL will be directed by a group of distinguished scholars from around the world. Philip Kennedy, Faculty Director, NYUAD Institute, will serve as the General Editor; James E. Montgomery, Professor of Classical Arabic at Cambridge University, and Shawkat M. Toorawa, Associate Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Cornell University, will serve as the Executive Editors. Julia Bray (University of Paris, VIII), Michael Cooperson (UCLA), Joseph E. Lowry (University of Pennsylvania), Tahera Qutbuddin (University of Chicago), and Devin Stewart (Emory University), comprise LAL’s Editorial Board. These eight editors will be involved in the selection of the texts, the commissioning of the translations, the review of manuscripts, and the vetting of the final translations. In addition, a twenty-six member International Advisory Board will provide the Editors with guidance and direction as the project moves forward.

LAL will be unprecedented in its scope, aiming in the long term to create a major library of classical Arabic literature in English. LAL will publish single-volume integral works, as well as multi-volume works and anthologies. NYU Press will publish each title simultaneously in print and ebook formats, priced to ensure the widest possible readership. Samples of ongoing translations along with the original Arabic texts will be made available in an online forum. The first LAL volume is expected to appear in late 2011.

LAL will constitute the first comprehensive library of the great works of Arabic literature in English. The primary goal of the translations will be accuracy and lucidity, bringing in modern English the treasures of this little-known literature to scholars and students, as well as a general audience of readers.

Founded in 2008, the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute is creating singular opportunities for leading NYU Abu Dhabi and NYU faculty members, in collaboration with scholars from elsewhere, from across the arts, humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, and the professions, to conduct research on major issues of disciplinary, multidisciplinary, and global significance.

About NYU Press

The Library of Arabic Literature will be managed at NYU Press by Steve Maikowski, Director; Eric Zinner, Editor-in-Chief; Monica McCormick, Program Officer for Digital Scholarly Publishing; and a Project Manager.

New York University Press is a distinguished, award-winning publisher of academic books and is a department of the New York University, Division of Libraries. NYU Press publishes over 100 new titles each year, has more than 2,500 titles in print, and publishes in the humanities and social sciences, with emphasis on sociology, law, cultural and American studies, literature, religion, American history, anthropology, politics, criminology, media and film, and psychology. The Press also co-published, with the JJC Foundation, the Clay Sanskrit Library (CSL), which was launched in 2005. The CSL has now published 56 individual volumes of many of the classics of Sanskrit literature, all in parallel Sanskrit/English facing page format. For more information, visit www.nyupress.org.

NYU Press and NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have announced the establishment of the Library of Arabic Literature (LAL). This new long-term project, funded by a grant from NYUAD’s research center, the NYU Abu Dhabi Institute, will initially publish 35 English translations of the great works of classical Arabic literature.